Blackstone counteroffers to buy Dell, monkey-wrenching Michael Dell’s plan to take the company private

Today, Bloomberg reported that Dell has another suitor: Blackstone Group. The investment company is said to have submitted an offer to buy Dell, a computer giant, at a price that ‘rivals’ the prior $24.4 billion offer that was tendered.

If Blackstone offers a substantially higher dollar figure for the OEM, the margin could force the prior consortium’s plans off the rails. However, for now, the terms of the proposed Blackstone deal are unknown.

Blackstone’s offer is likely to excite and delight extant Dell investors, most especially Southeastern, an investment group that has made noise concerning the $24.4 billion price.

Dell is currently trading at $14.14, a large margin of the prior buyout price of $13.65, indicating that investors are anticipating a higher closing price to take Dell private.

Update: Carl Icahn appears to also be in the process of bidding for Dell, adding a third hat to the ring. This is going to get messy, and expensive, before the end.